not a fan

I can't wait to start turning the pages on this one...

Thank you, Jodi!

Hurt Healer

I'm so excited about what's going on in our youth Sunday School class. We're reading this book:

Tony Nolan brought the message when we were at Falls Creek, and we even had a chance to meet the authentic, outta this world, crazy guy who loves the Lord with all his heart, and wants others to experience the same love he has discovered.

After a suggestion from the youth and time in prayer, we (April and I) decided to study one of his books for Sunday School.

We started today! I warned the students though ... this could get tough! And they were still ready to go. And from what I can tell, all of us are ready to: "....take a good look at our attempts to connect with them (unbelievers), and make some deep life changes for the sake of reaching out to a broken world." Hurt Healers ~ Tony Nolan

May He be glorified!

Book Review ~ Inconceivable

When I was asked by TLC BookTours to review this book, I barely recalled the Carolyn and Sean Savage story hitting the news in September 2009. Probably because our lives were also changing forever as we flew to China to receive our Treasures, Kooper and Kinley. But I digress.

This book tells the incredible true story of a couple's selfless love and the decision to give the gift of life while giving away their last chance at expanding their own family.

Sean and Carolyn each share, in diary form, their entire pregnancy after learning someone else's embryos have been transferred into her body by mistake. They do an excellent job sharing their emotions and the difficult decisions they never expected to have to make in their attempt to have another child.

Even from the beginning of the book I had so much respect for the Savage family, and by the time I read the last page, I respect and admire them even more for the way they handled this difficult situation. They clung to their faith and the love of our heavenly Father. I actually thought about the birth mothers of my Treasures as I read this book, and while I have no clue the circumstances, I thank them for giving the gift of life.

my reading list

These are the books I've read recently (and would recommend to anyone!). Many of them I've read more than once! Thank you to those who recommended them to me.
Wild Goose Chase
Crazy Love
Forgotten God
The Shack
In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day
Now reading - Radical

This is the design of God among his people. He is giving unlikely people his power so it is clear who deserves the glory for the success that takes place.
-David Platt-
Radical

The Same Spirit

"It really is an astounding truth that the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. He lives in me. I do not know what the Spirit will do or where He'll lead me each time I invite Him to guide me. But I am tired of living in a way that looks exactly like people who do not have the Holy Spirit of God living in them. I want to consistently live with an awareness of His strength. I want to be different today from what I was yesterday as the fruit of the Spirit becomes more manifest in me."

Forgotten God
~Francis Chan~

Currently Reading ...

"Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God."

Amazing book! I think I'm going to find myself quoting a lot of this book. For instance:

"Christianity was always intended to be a verb. And, more specifically, an action verb. ... If the twenty-first-century church said less and did more, maybe we would have the same kind of impact the first-century church did. Some of us live as if we expect to hear God say, 'Well thought, good and faithful servant!' Or, 'Well said, good and faithful servant!' ... There is only one commendation, and it is the by-product of pursuing God-ordained passions: 'Well done, good and faithful servant!'"

If you'd like to follow our now private wild goose chase, please email me.

The Shack

Okay, I promised I'd tell you about the book I've been reading, but I wanted to wait until I'd finished it. By now you've probably heard about The Shack. It's a 246-page bestseller! I had the book with me when I was taking depositions last week and two other people told me they were reading it! First let me say that I am not a book critic. I mostly read books recommended by dear friends, such as this one was. Secondly, I will say this is not the Bible and cannot be treated as God's Word. It is, however, the best fiction book I've ever read that portrays the love of our Heavenly Father. I won't give away the plot, but I will tell you that it addresses the age old question of, "If God is so loving, then why does He allow horrible things to happen?" I liken the answer to a joke told from the pulpit last Sunday. Since I'm not good at telling jokes, I'll just tell you the meaning of the punch line was that we can have as much or as little of our Heavenly Father as we choose. He loves every one of His creation. He can take our messes and make them beautiful. He can take evil and make it good. Our Creator gave us a free will, and while He would love for us to always reach to Him, He doesn't force us to do so. It's true that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, and that will be a final recognition of what we should have known all along. But what about now? What about our daily walk? Our struggles and even tragedies? Do we really believe God is with us through those? I know my answer. This book made me sob, laugh and sob some more. Probably the most poignant thing for me is something I already knew but had perhaps discounted as cliche is the fact that Jesus is present with every child in the midst of tragedy, every child in the throws of loneliness, every child who is not being tucked in by his or her parents ...

If you've read this book, I'd love to hear what you thought about it so please leave a comment.